White Sox fail to win final series of season against Twins, lose final game of Robin Ventura‘s managerial tenure. White Sox fall to 78-84 with loss on Sunday.
The Chicago White Sox failed to win its final series of the season as they fell to the lowly Twins 6-3 on Sunday. Chris Sale failed in his bid to record his 18th win of the season, which would have been a career-high.
Instead, Sale had another poor outing to end his season. Sale lasted just five innings against the Twins and gave up five earned runs. The All-Star pitchers’ record dropped to 17-10 on the season as his ERA climbed to 3.34. Sale gave up two home runs to the Twins, including a leadoff inside-the-park home run by Byron Buxton.
Sale never had a lead to work with, and saw his slim Cy Young chances slip away on Sunday afternoon. After the Twins jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning, it became apparent the Sox wouldn’t win Sunday’s game.
Although the Sox managed to score three runs, they didn’t present much of a threat to Twins starter Jose Berrios. Berrios pitched five innings allowing just one earned run and recording three strikeouts. The lone run Berrios gave up came courtesy of a RBI single from Jose Abreu in the third inning.
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The RBI single from Abreu was historic as it was his 100th RBI of the season. This marked Abreu’s third consecutive season of 100 or more RBI. Abreu has recorded 100 or more RBI in each of his first three seasons in MLB, a feat only accomplished by Albert Pujols, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
The Sox offense didn’t establish much of a rhythm throughout the game. There wasn’t any hitter that recorded more than one hit. Despite recording six hits, the offense for the Sox was largely nonexistent for a second consecutive game. Melky Cabrera added to his impressive season with a RBI groundout in the seventh inning. Cabrera ended his season with 86 RBI, the most since 2011 when he was with the Royals and recorded 87 RBI.
Omar Narvaez added a RBI groundout in the eighth inning to pull the Sox closer at 6-3. But this would be as close as the Sox would get. The Sox not only failed to win its third consecutive series, but they also lost in Robin Ventura‘s final game as Sox manager. Ventura announced on Sunday he will not be returning to manage the Sox in 2017.
Next: Chris Sale Looking to End Season With 18th Win
The Sox reportedly will replace Ventura with bench coach Rick Renteria. Renteria last managed the Cubs in the 2014 season, before he was fired for Joe Maddon. The Sox will have some decisions to make in the off-season, as they can either rebuild or push for contention in 2017. If the Sox try to contend next season, they will have to be very active with either trades or free agent signings.